Check Out How Much More Often Beautiful Women Get Callbacks For Job Interviews

Life really is easier for attractive people. They make more
money, get promoted faster, and many times are
simply more successful. And
accordingto
a new study, they have a
much easier time job hunting.

Italian
researchers sent more than 10,000 resumes out, using the same
one and changing only first-name, last-name, address, and the
photo included to test ethnic and regional biases as well as the
impact of beauty.

The average callback rate was 30% across all of the CVs sent out.
For attractive women, it was 54%, and for attractive men,
47%.

Unattractive women had by far the worst results, with a 7%
callback rate. Unattractive men had a 26% rate.

The callback rates for resumes
from non-Italians were lower, 13% for men and 12% for women,
though the results testing for attractiveness were more
statistically significant.

Regional differences weren't substantial.

The study mirrors the results
of another study
using a similar design, titled "The Labor Market Return to an
Attractive Face: Evidence from a Field Experiment," from
researchers looking at Argentina.

There, attractive people had a
36% higher callback rate than unattractive ones, with no
variation in qualification. That study used the same photos in
different resumes, digitally modifying faces to make them
scientifically less attractive.

In the past, attractiveness was
more of a factor once you got past the initial review to an
interview, especially in countries where it isn't common to
attach a headshot to job applications.

Now, it's increasingly common to apply through online platforms
like LinkedIn where a profile photo is included, so the advantage
the study points to comes into play earlier in the process.

That does come with a caveat though. While the Argentinean and
Italian studies found an advantage across both genders, an
Israeli study discovered attractive males got a
significant boost, but attractive women were discriminated
against. They claim to have found evidence that "female
jealousy of attractive women in the workplace" was the
cause. Clearly there are advantages, but being beautiful does
occasionally backfire.